(29 May 2010)
STORYLINE:
Diners at La Colombe, nestled on the lawns of the expansive Constantia Uitsig wine estate, prefer to eat outside.
This is the country’s top gastronomic experience – and has been for two years running – according to South Africa’s Eat Out guide, an annually published restaurant bible for local and visiting foodies.
La Colombe was also recently afforded the honour of world’s twelfth best restaurant in the prestigious San Pellegrino rankings.
Easy al fresco is the order of the day at Chef Luke Dale-Robert’s establishment, which resembles a very posh French country kitchen.
The extensive menu, which changes every fortnight, reveals a blend of diverse influences, many featuring an indulgent portion of foie gras.
Chef Dale-Roberts reinvents classic dishes for a modern palate by incorporating local produce with traditional French flair.
Starters range from R95 ($12.50 US Dollars) for a beetroot tart to R210 ($28 US Dollars) for pan-fried foie gras on poached nectarines.
Mains peak at R260 ($34 US Dollars) for springbok medallions with figs, foie gras and confit garlic.
Dale-Roberts plates an entr�e of pan-seared sweetbreads on miso marinated aubergine and chickpeas, with teriyaki glazed shitake mushrooms and a roasted crayfish tail, drizzled with creamy miso dressing.
But the British-born chef says, despite the modern twists of the menu, he is still working on incorporating traditional ways of cooking.
“I’m finding myself rather going back to older fashioned, more traditional things. For example, we’re buying lamb in whole, we’re buying baby pigs in whole, we’re doing a lot of preserving, bottling fruits like my mother used to do and using, you know, those juices to make sauces, and combining that with some modern techniques, but very much basing the cuisine on a natural kind of environment and style,” says Dale-Roberts.
Abigail Donnelly, one of South Africa’s most acclaimed food critics and editor of the Eat Out guide, which ranks South Africa’s best restaurants annually, says La Colombe’s top honours are well deserved.
“Luke from La Colombe, he won last year, the best restaurant. And he, I always say, it’s about his consistency of what he does, how clever he is with his technique. He always delivers exactly what his menu says on the plate. And again, it’s that pursuit for, absolutely striving for excellence,” she says.
While eight out of Eat Out’s top ten are in the Western Cape, situatied mostly on wineries around Cape Town, the restaurant in second position is in Gauteng, a short drive from Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Restaurant Mosaic is led by chef Chantel Dartnell, whose signature dishes include vivid edible flowers.
Chef Chantel Dartnell doesn’t look like a chef.
Her slender profile and delicate features resemble those of a ballet dancer rather than the head chef of a busy kitchen.
But her grace and precision transcends into her plates.
One of her sauces, served with the signature confit of duck, takes four days to make, reducing over a low heat to a rich glossy texture.
Dartnell says the restaurant’s name is reflecting her style of food.
“Well I have to say, when we had to think about what we would call the restaurant, Mosaic was the first choice, because it encompasses all the different styles. Although my training was classically French, I love embracing all the different cultures, I love Oriental cuisine. And we like to bring in a little bit of our travels back for the clients to experience. So on our winter menu, we’ll be focusing on Cambodia, whereas in the spring, it’s Europe, and Paris,” she says.
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